As awards season accolades continue to pour in for the glitzy, surrealistic Elvis biopic, there’s no denying the all-too-true, tragic life and death of his little girl.
A bombshell documentary — TMZ Investigates: Lisa Marie Presley: Unending Tragedy (which aired this week in the US) — sheds new light on the superstar scion’s demise, with accusations of drug abuse, references to scarily rapid weight loss and mysterious insurance policies and claims of “fraud” and a “money grab.”
Elvis Presley’s only child died of cardiac arrest at age 54 on January 12. She is survived by her mother, Priscilla Presley, 77, her adult daughter, actress Riley Keough, 33, and twins Harper and Finley Lockwood, 14. (She also had son Benjamin, who died by suicide in 2020 at age 27.)
Two of Presley’s four ex-husbands, Danny Keough, 61, and Michael Lockwood, 58, were also still in the late singer’s life.
A bitter feud is allegedly brewing between the two men — who reportedly can’t stand each other — over the custody of Presley’s twins, according to the outlet. Meanwhile, a source told the new documentary that Presley also had a strained relationship with her mum, which could soon come to the fore in a legal fight.
“There was a lot of bad blood between them,” TMZ producer Jacob Wasserman says. “Yes, they were with each other at the Golden Globes [days before Presley’s death], but some family members told us they were absolutely shocked to see them sitting at the same table.”
Here’s what’s revealed in the shocking special.
Bad blood’ between Presley’s ex-husbands
According to the documentary, there’s a family fight brewing over the late singer’s custody of her two teen kids. In an exclusive clip from the doc, TMZ boss Harvey Levin says Lockwood will “almost certainly” get full custody of twins Harper and Finley.
However, Keough (the father of her first two kids) was living with the family at the time of her death and was also close to the girls.
Presley was married to Keough from 1988 to 1994, and to Lockwood from 2006 to 2021.
“Riley desperately wants to maintain a relationship with her sisters,” a TMZ reporter said. “Of course, Priscilla wants to see her granddaughters. Danny absolutely wants to stay in touch with the kids … but, there is a lot of bad blood between Danny and Michael.”
Rumours of opioids, rapid 50-pound weight loss
The documentary dives into Presley’s well-documented struggles with drugs and alcohol.
When Presley attended the Golden Globes just two days before her death, she was visibly frail.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, an addiction specialist who appears in the documentary, explains onscreen: “She was slurring her speech [at the awards show], she had drooping eyelids, she was unsteady on her feet … that’s not normal for a woman who is otherwise healthy at her age.
“The behaviour at the Golden Globes was consistent with somebody on a lot of substance.”
“We have information that may explain why her heart suddenly stopped beating,” said TMZ producer Charles Latibeaudiere. “Lisa had lost 40 to 50 pounds (or 18 to 22kg) in just six weeks … We’re also told she was back on opioids.” Presley allegedly wanted to look her best for awards season, to represent the Oscar-nominated biopic of her father, Elvis.
“The fact that she gets up and goes to the Golden Globes … good for her,” Pinsky says in the doc. “I wish that somebody had raised the alarm, though, based on how she was looking.”
Priscilla enters the legal fray: ‘Strained relationship’
Lisa Marie Presley reportedly had a fraught relationship with her mother, Priscilla, going all the way back to her teen years.
At that time, Priscilla was involved with the Church of Scientology. Former Scientologist Karen De La Carriere told the documentarians that she remembers strained feelings between the pair.
“Lisa with a long face, miserable … stepped out of the limousine, and I heard Priscilla say, ‘Handle her!’” De La Carriere recalled.
The pair put on a unified display at the Golden Globes just days before Presley’s passing, and Priscilla spoke lovingly of her only child at Lisa Marie’s memorial — but one source says it was all for show.
Priscilla is now contesting her daughter’s will, something one source told Page Six is simply “a money grab.”
“She had no relationship with Priscilla, Michael Lockwood or her half-brother [Navarone Garibaldi],” she stated.
As previously reported, Priscilla is challenging an amendment in her late daughter’s trust, claiming fraud.
Money mystery: Life insurance policies, family fight on the horizon
According to blockbuster docs first released by the website The Blast, Presley was “debt-ridden,” having squandered the $US100 million she inherited from her father. But the new doc alleges she took out up to three life insurance policies before her death. As a result, she reportedly left $US35 million to be split between her three kids — the twins and Riley Keough.
“Lisa was never disciplined about money,” said doc producer Katie Hayes. “She was a big spender, and she made some bad investments. She basically blew through $US100 million in 25 years.”
Latibeaudiere added: “We’ve learned that at the time of Lisa’s death, she was $4 million in debt, including $US2.5 million still owed to the IRS … But we found out that on the day she died, Lisa’s estate was suddenly flushed with cash.”
Elvis Presley’s famous Graceland estate will also reportedly be split among Riley Keough and her younger half-sisters.
Meanwhile, the special is also set to cover other big life events such as Presley’s marriage to Michael Jackson.
This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission